[♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: hi, good morning, everybody. it is monday morning, can you believe it. monday september 24th. welcome to the "full court press." hope you had a good weekend and are ready to tackle the big stories of the day. mitt romney released his tax returns for 2011, but if he

thinks that this is going to put that issue behind him, he is dead wrong because all that dump does is raise more questions about his tax returns. we still don't know anything about his swiss bank account or his money in the cayman islands in bermuda, in other words he just raised more questions. we'll get into that but let's get the latest from today's current news update here she is lisa ferguson. >> president obama is headed to new york city today where he and the first lady with tape an episode of "the view." mitt romney is in colorado as part of his renewed push for swing state voters. and we will likely hear the same message from him today that we heard him from last night, which

is that he is the change americans deserve in washington. also the candidates faced off in a bit of a debate preview. the president owned up to what he says was his biggest disappointment that he has not been able to change the cry mate in washington. >> i'm hoping that when the smoke clears and the election season is over that that spirit of cooperation comes to the floor. >> last night mr. obama said as president he has to bare responsibility for everything at least to some degree. they talked about foreign policy to their read and write before bed. we know romney paid a 14.1% tax rate on 2011. when asked if he thinks it is

fair that he pays a lower percent than someone who paid about $50,000 a year he said yes. more bill press is coming up after the break. and we ive in chat current.com/billpress. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, what do you say, everybody, good morning, good monday morning here on the "full court press." great to see you today. i hope you had a good weekend. had a chance to relax, maybe watch a little baseball or football, and we're back with the news of the day here on your

local progressive talk radio station this monday morning on sirius xm. great to have you with us today for whatever part of the program you are able to stay with us. we'll bring you up to date on the news of the date as we always do and take your calls at 866-55-press. it's a busy day. president obama starting at the house with and then going to the united nations today to meet with world leaders and also to tape an appearance on "the view." mitt romney releasing his tax returns for one more year -- one more year of tax returns i should say on friday. and joe biden popping up in every diner and coffee shop he can find. it's a busy monday morning. congress out of time, so we'll

bring you up to date on what they didn't get done before they left and involve you and give you a chance to sound off. wherever you have to be in this great land of ours thank you for joining us. and now our crew.

they want to keep our mountains beautiful. people throwing trash out on the side of the road, that ain't right. that ain't right. they said in their statement here. and they insist they're not racist. we just want to be with white people. only. but they're not racist. >> dude, i ain't racist. i just don't like black people. >> bill: they're white and proud and they don't want black people around. >> bill, you ever try to drive a car with one of them hoods on. >> bill: what do you think? should george allow the kkk to have a stretch of highway? >> bill, our definition of clean is a little bit different than yours. >> bill: hell, no. you know what they would do? they would have a guard post at the beginning of the highway stopping every

car. you a person of color, uh-huh, turn around. this highway is closed. >> this here is a toll road. we don't want any trash on this road. >> bill: just go away. >> what could possibly go wrong? >> bill: go away. get george zimmerman to help them out. how about it. man, lots to get into today. with some -- with the good help of joe cirincione our foreign policy guru from the ploughshares fund. we'll also talk to the association of firefighters hoppin' mad about mitt romney saying we don't need anymore firefighters. we'll talk to buzzfeed about what's going on with elizabeth warren up in massachusetts. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> bill, history was made at the family cup finals last night. the los angeles kings are

nhl champions for the first time in their 45 year history. they ripped up the new jersey devils after losing the last two games. several the goals came on power plays. dustin brown was first to get his hands on the 36 pound trophy, thrusting it into the air at center ice. >> bill: good for l.a. man, when i was in l.a., i saw the kings a few times. they were far from stanley cup team in those years. they've come a long way. >> another celebrity came out in support of gay marriage, a bit of a surprise because of her strong christian beliefs that were thought to lean conservative. carrie underwood saying everyone should have the right to love people they want to love and should be able to marry if they want to. the country star and former "american idol" said she's bothered by people who use the bible for hate. >> bill: good for her! the real conservative position is to be in support of same-sex marriage because conservatives

don't want government in the bedroom. so, she's right. >> it's known that even though they come from different parties, the women of the u.s. senate are close friends. they got together last night secretary of state and former senator hillary clinton hosted an engagement party for maine republican senator susan collins according to buzzfeed.com. former justice sandra day o'connor was also there along with all 17 female senators. senator collins got engaged back in february. >> bill: good for them. girls night out. hope they had a good time. hey, dan, thank you. yes, indeed. we start off this morning with jeb bush, the smartest of all of the bushes. over. >> bill: it is a low bar. should have been the one that was present at the united states rather than when one we got stuck with. jeb made this yesterday. i think he's absolutely right. he made news by meeting

reporters up in new york and telling them that in today's republican party, neither his father, pappy bush, h. george h. w. bush nor ronald reagan could get through an election in the republican party. [ technical difficulties ] >> we finished by smashing his guitar on the stage walked off, and the next morning his band announced he was in rehab. the mars rover is still chugging along. it is stopping along the way when it's cameras find something to look at.

it found a pyramid shaped rock over the weekend. they pulled out its robotic arm to look closely. >> bill: i ran into a neighborhood of ours yesterday, who is a nasa scientist. i said did you ever get to that mountain? and he said no it takes a long time but we found this great rock yesterday. [ laughter ] >> i love it. white house report tells us that the vice president stopped in at a cafe.

ordered food, and offered to buy food for the press corps following him, but they declined. >> bill: isn't that where he said this tastes like a half smoke. he knows his sausage from chicago. 15 minutes after the hour yes, indeed it was a big news on friday. when politicians want to get bad news out they do it on a friday afternoon, it's called in the trade -- i'm sure you have heard the phrase before -- the friday dump. for mitt romney the friday dump was releasing his tax returns. friday i went to a meeting down at the capitol with democratic leader nancy pelosi, which i'll tell you about. stopped to visit a friend of mine who works in the senate and

his colleague is the one that asked me what do you think about the mitt romney's tax returns? and i said what are you talking about? and he said didn't you hear? he just released his tax returns. so that's how i found out about. was 4:00 friday afternoon. so he released one more year of tax returns, and a letter covering -- supposedly covering the last ten years of tax returns. mitt romney did this -- if he really thinks this is a way to put this issue behind him, is this really going to resolve the questions about his tax returns in no way. all it does it revive the issues about his tax returns, and keep the issue alive for the next 43 days, and that's what we have

got left. let's look at each of those factors. first of all for his 2011 returns. he made $13 million -- roughly -- around $13 million in 2011. not bad. most of it was capital gains. he made an effective tax rate of 14.1%. and the hold scott pelly on 60 minutes last night by the way that he thought that was fair because it wasn't earned income therefore that rate was -- nothing wrong with paying that rate. >> you paid 14% in federal tax, that's the capital gains rate. is that fair to the guy who makes $50,000 and paid a higher rate than he did? >> romney: it is a low rate and one of the reasons why the capital gains tax is lower, is because the capitol has already

been taxed once at the federal level 35%. >> so you think it is fair. >> romney: yes, it is fair. >> bill: this is the warren buffen deal, folks. he thinks it is fair that he would pay a lower tax rate than a poor grunt who is making $50,000. but he rigged the tax return. he fixed it. it's a phony return. he admits he did not reduct all of his possible charitable deductions. because he didn't do so, he paid 14%. had he declared all of his

charitable deductions he would have paid 10%. so he paid 14%, but you know what can he file an amended return next year. he can easily file an amended return, and say, oops, i forgot to mention those things last year, so i'm going to take it off this year, so he'll still get that money back and his campaign refused to say whether or not he plans to file an amended return. of course he does because by paying more than he owed really, mitt romney violated his number 1 rule. i want to remind you, and i'll remind mitt romney said back in july july 29th about what he should by about somebody who pace more than they owe in

taxes. >> romney: my view is i have paid all of the taxes required by law. i don't pay more than legally due, and if i had, i don't think i would be qualified to become president. >> bill: there it is. if i paid more -- if i paid more thank owe, i would not be qualified to be president of the united states. case closed. my god. what do you think of this 866-55-press. and the other thing is just quickly that letter from his accountants saying for the last ten year he never paid less than 13% in taxes. i don't believe a word of it. after all of the lies that mitt romney has told in this campaign, why should we accept a letter from his accountant rather than the tax returns in

if you believe that just send a letter to the irs saying i only owe blank, blank, blank. the only way to clear it up is to release his tax returns, and he is going to have to do it sooner or later. 866-55-press. mitt romney's tax dump on friday. did it convince you? no way. 866-55-press. let's talk about it. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

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(vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! ♪

>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 26 minutes after the hour. no sooner had mitt romney released his one more year of tax returns on friday afternoon a campaign strategy was mitt romney's campaign manager in 2008, right? so he is close to romney. he came out and said for rommy to release one more year of tax returns plus that letter from his accountants, alex said at first i thought it was a april fool's joke. does he really think this is going to bury this issue. no way, it will just keep the issue alive.

this is from the man that ran his campaign in 2008. eric from atlanta. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i need something to heal my political ill. [ laughter ] >> caller: this is what romney is doing. there's no way he can release these tax returns because it will scandalize the mormon church. he is reducing his capital by giving to himself. if you look at the mormon church they are the richest church in the whole world? why? it is because of the taxes. and this is why ann romney and mitt they always talk about how

much he gives to charity. basically he is giving to himself. >> bill: yeah, eric i think you are on to something heard, but what i have heard is the really reason mitt romney won't release his tax returns is because it would show he is actually cheating the church and hiding that money in his overseas bank accounts. who knows. abuse in columbus ohio. >> caller: first of all you can clarify something for me i saw a picture that said any person that won't disclose their tax returns has something to hide, is that quote attributed to him -- >> bill: it was george romney who released 12 years of tax returns, and he said anybody who would release only one or two years of tax returns must have something to hide.

i don't want to quote him exactly, but he did say they should release all 12 years. thanks, bruce. >> announcer: is the "bill press show." right, who was reagan's budget (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

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>> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv. >> bill: how about it? 33 minutes after the hour. it is the "full court press." we're coming to you live from our nation's capitol. brought to you today by the utility worker's union of america. under president mike langford

delivering vital services and a brighter future for all of us. for more information about all of their good work go to their website. talking about mitt romney releases one more year of his tax returns. he thinks that is going to settle all of the questions and put this issue behind him. he is dead wrong. 866-55-press is our toll-free number. we'll get back to your calls in just a second but first those of you who -- and who is it? hurting now and fining it hard to make ends meet at the end of each month check out incomeathome.com. doing business in over 80 countries today. they know what they are doing, and this is something you can do. you can literally own money from your own laptop from your own

living room, 24/7. if you want to earn extra money from home, part-time, or full-time, income at home at -- incomeathome.com. by the way the obama campaign is how today with a newed a, which ties together mitt romney's comments last week about the 47% of americans who don't pay federal income tax and therefore he says are all dead beats and the fact that mitt romney now has only released one more year of tax returns where we paid a pity 14.1% in taxes. >> mitt romney attacked 47% of

americans who paid no federal income tax. mitt romney paid just 14.1% in taxes last year he keeps millions in bermuda and the cayman islands. >> obama: i'm barack obama. and i approve this message. >> bill: i think he is hiding the fact that there were years in which he paid zero income taxes. roy is calling from ashville north carolina. hi, bill good morning. >> caller: bill you are no doubt right on that. in '08 and '09 he paid nothing because mccain didn't pick him, he owed and he went tax

avoidance wild. >> bill: let's remember 23 years of returns or something he gave to mccain. >> caller: yep, and mccare picked sarah palin. really roy i have to -- bruce called just before the break about george romney's quote. and for bruce's sake and everybody else'ses i want to get the quote exact. here is what he said. george romney mitt's father asked -- his buy august fer asked him for one year of tax returns. and george romney said no release of that document while it might serve a political purpose would not prove very much. one year he said could be a fluke, perhaps done just for show. i just wanted to get that quote out there exactly.

go ahead, roy. >> caller: one year could be gussied up by mitt romney. >> bill: yeah. >> caller: it took the guy nine months to do his taxes, and he thinks he is going to run the world's most complicated economy. >> bill: good point. >> caller: and what eric from atlanta said a while ago this is killing me. the press never breaks it down. what charitable contributions? when you are giving it to your church, you are giving it to yourself. >> bill: that is an interesting comment. i hadn't thought about that until eric made the point and roy you are reinforcing it. mark in montgomery illinois. hey, mark. >> caller: good morning, bill. >> bill: good morning. so mitt romney put this issue behind him, didn't he?

>> caller: no. and to put the fear of god into romney, i think we ought to audit his sons. because i think that's where the money went. the five of those strapping young men are not self made. so there is something to be found there if they want to look. >> bill: i hadn't thought about that, there are so many questions and again, without releasing his tax returns, we'll never know, right? >> caller: that's right. >> bill: and there has got to be something there that he doesn't want us to know right? and it could be that he violated -- along with giving more money to his son. thank you so much for the call. >> caller: eric in chicago. >> caller: hey, how are you doing? i feel like this, whatever he is hiding they are running the

risk -- possibly of losing the presidency over this and it just makes me wonder i'm suspecting, it has got to be something to do with bain capital. something he was in to because we already know he's rich. he is not the first rich man to run for president. >> bill: hardly right. >> caller: we know he has bank accounts in camemans and all of the other stuff. what somebody told me now is that he has been hearing that he may have investments in a company that makes money off of abortions. i don't know if that is true -- >> bill: i hadn't heard that before. i think the -- i think it -- well, i think there are two things. number 1, again, as i said earlier, i think there were

years in which he paid zero taxes. number 2, i think release of his tax returns would show how much money he a has pailed up in the cayman islands and bermuda, and switzerland. i think he is avoiding paying taxes by squirrelling his money overseas. but we'll never know. and all of these calls are great, because they prove, i think, my point, which is there is no way by releasing one more year that romney is not going to put these things behind him. it revives the issue. john in las vegas, nevada. >> caller: i have a top-secret clearance. in order to get that clearance

that go back ten years into my financial background, medical background. i have to really open my life up to them. >> bill: yeah, mitt romney wouldn't qualify, right? >> caller: if he wants us to hire him to be president, he is going to have access to the country's most sensitive secrets, and why should i have to go through that and he doesn't. plus i'm not even allowed to have any of my finances offshore. if i had any of that offshore, i would lose my clearance and my job. >> bill: woe. yeah, that's a very good question. why should you have to jump through those hoops, why should you have those conditions placed on your job, and yet for the guy that would have the most top-secret job on the planet not

have to meet the same conditions? exactly point, john. all right. one more. nick up in buffalo, new york. hey, nick, what do you say? >> i would like to on it out that mitt romney is entitled to file an amended tax return and you can bet right after the election, he is going to do that. and pay only 9%. >> bill: you know he will. you know that's coming up. and he doesn't deny it. so this is just another shuck and jive on the part of mitt romney, thinking that americans are just idiots we're dumb we're stupid and we're not going to pay any attention and we'll believe his silly game. guess what mitt we got ya, babe. he got ya. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

>>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.

(vo) this is joy. >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years. >>since when do you get to say stuff like that on tv? >> listen, if you'd read your email once in a while, you'd know i have a new show. (vo) always outspoken. >> you think because this is an election year you can just say anything? >> hello! say anything, that's the name of the show.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 13 minutes now before the top of the hour. in the next hour we're going to be talking congress and what congress did not get done as well as taking a look at all of the important senate races facing us in 2012. right now getting away from politics for just a moment for one of the biggest consumer stories of the year and that is this neat little box i have right here in my hand if you are

watching on current tv. this is what you get when you order the iphone 5. it is a beautifully little piece of equipment, beautifully packaged. jason gilbert is the technology columnist for "huffington post" who takes a look at all of this stuff knows it inside out better than i. jason good morning, thanks for joining us. >> good morning, bill. congratulations on your new phone. >> bill: certainly the sales have met if not exceeded expectations. ho good is the phone? >> it's a really good phone. you know, i think -- you know some people are a little disappointed for whatever reason, but, you know, i don't think they have held it in their hands yet. i think that something that strucks a lot of people is the [ inaudible ] it's really really, really light for -- for

how big it is. i mean -- from the iphone 4, the last one, to this one, i would like to say it went through a growth spurt over the summer it came back taller and a lot skinnier. >> bill: yeah. it's just amazing. it is so light you know, and i thought -- >> and that's the type of leap that we expect apple to make. >> bill: yeah, and i thought the old phone was, too. >> here i am with my iphone 4f and it is like a brick compared to that. >> bill: yeah. and the other thing i like about it is, i'm computer literate but that's about it. i'm not a -- don't know technology, but i was able to set this up just following

their instructions and activate it in a half hour you know, or less. >> yeah. are you an i cloud user? >> i am. all of the information everything are right here on the new phone. but the rig rap is, they really screwed up by putting their own map application on it and not sticking with google. what is your take in that? >> i think that's probably true. after getting trapped in long island this weekend in pouring rain, and not able to find a subway station, i was ready to

thrown my phone against the wall. they have so thoroughly mapped every outdoor location in the world that they are now moving to in door locations, and apple's map is pretty rough. >> bill: my understanding is -- if i still want the google application, i can download it into on my iphone 5. >> not yet. they don't have an application quite yet. you would have to bookmark google.com, and launch that but it's not really the same experience, but they say it is coming -- so hopefully by christmas.

>> bill: oh. >> hopeful launch dates. >> so google -- everyone knows abc these google vans that drive around and map everything. does apple have its own cars? >> oh -- oh not that we know of. i'm really not sure what they are doing. >> so they have a long way to go. >> i would imagine they have a long way to go. i told you before google maps has been doing this since 1996 i think. they have been looking forward for a long time. and they have a fleet of vans and planes and people walking around with cameras on their head -- >> bill: let me jump in. these apple people are really smart, right? tim cook certainly steve jobs in his time, so why would they take on google? is it just ego or what?

>> i think it's ego. i think they have really picked a fight with google. and it's sort of a pride thing, they kicked off the youtube app as well. >> bill: right. >> so they are ban initialling google services and hoping to make them -- you know a little less omni present i guess. and part of that is going with another company for their maps. and at this point it certainly looks like the loser is the customer. >> bill: yes indeed in that respect. otherwise i think it's a great product. >> well, the maps are beautiful, aren't they? they look good. >> bill: yeah, but if you are trying to get to the airport and need to catch a flight you better be careful. >> absolutely. >> bill: all right.

jason thank you so much. jason gilbert you can follow him at "huffington post" by the way he is their tech writer. we'll be right back. >> announcer: is the "bill press show." ♪

current tv, it's been all building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to

weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. ♪ >> announcer: taking your emails on any topic at anytime. this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey, folks, it's always good to hear from you on twitter, facebook and from your

emails. pat comments about mitt romney and the 47%, and it's not my job to worry about those seem i have to think he said this so many times in the past when bain was closing businesses and throwing workers out, that it is part of his dna, i think you are right about that. matt says the media can swing polls just to keep people watching. but you know mac they do it. always want it to sound like it is a really a horse race so people will think they have to keep watching whatever channel. mira little suggests that if you want to know what the ryan/romney team is trying to pull off just look up the meaning and origin of the phrase pig in a poke.

it's an oldie but goody. i am going to check that out. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: hey good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is monday september 24th. good to see you today, and thank you for joining us today here on current tv and the "full court press." we'll bring you up to date on what is happening around the country, around the globe, and right here in washington, d.c.

not much here in washington, d.c. but we'll bring you up to date and take your calls at 866-55-press. that's what this townhall meeting is all about, you get to sound off the issues of the date. congress is now out of town for seven weeks. so we are paying them to do nothing for seven weeks, but it's okay. because they don't do anything whether thatry in town or out of town. now out to lisa ferguson in los angeles. >> good morning, earn. mitt romney is launching its latest bus tour tomorrow in ohio. >> mitt romney attacked 47% of americans who pay no income tax including veterans the elder

and disabled. doesn't the president have to worry about everyone? >> the ad goes on to hit romney on his latest tax return saying the paid 14.1% in 2011 and we don't have a complete return from 2010 for romney and no information prior to that. that spot mr. bracket romney and ryan's appearances in ohio this weak. president obama is proposing tax increased on middle class families according to mitt romney. that's for people making more than $250,000 a year or more. but that fits romney's definition of middle class. obama supporters have banded together with a shadow tour

following romney from town to town. ted strickland is leading the charge. more bill press is coming up after the break. and we're live in chat, current.com/billpress. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

of sununu, you're wrong. mitt romney, you're wrong. we need more teachers, not fewer teachers and more cops and more firefighters that support our

[♪ theme music ♪] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 43 days to go now. has mitt romney run out of time? hey, good morning, everybody? what do you say? good to see you today. it is monday. monday september 24th. this is the "full court press." and we're booming out to you

live from our studio in washington, d.c. congress is out of town. but that's all right. they don't get anything done when they are in town. thank you so much for joining us wherever you happen to be in this great land of ours. we're coming to you live on your progressive radio station and on current tv. give us a call and 866-55-press. joining us here at the top of the hour who covers congress whether they are here or not -- covers the house actually, jake sherman. thank for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> bill: and you join our team. peter ogburn is off today. so stepping up -- >> good morning. >> bill: dan henning.

with the help of stevie. last night were the emmy awards. they even have the red carpet for the emmys. >> oh, it's huge. they have the red carpet on nbc, and then e-news. >> bill: yeah, it just goes on and on. jimmy kimmel was the most. and he was in rare form last night. of course couldn't resist dip going to politics 2012. >> i will admit that [ inaudible ] is an amazing show. there is so much meticulous attention to detail.

it's not the kind of show i typically watch, but it gives you a sense of what it must have been like to grow up in mitt romney's house. >> bill: the castle. and so then he did his little poll of the audience. >> our any of you voting for mitt romney? [ cheers ] >> all right. 40 republicans, and the rest godless liberal homosexuals. see, that's why kelsey grammer didn't come tonight. [ laughter ] >> bill: so we'll be talking action on inaction here in washington and taking your calls at the top of the hour. jennifer duffy is going to join us a little bit later. she covers senate races. and chris [ inaudible ] will be

in as a friend of bill. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> making news on this monday -- sad news out of the national zoo here in washington. the seven-day old baby panda unexpected passed away last week. it was born to the mother who has been given five false pregnancies in the past five years. the cause of death is unknown. the smithsonian said until yesterday the cub was thought to be perfectly healthy. >> bill: yes, that is really really sad. >> president obama a noted chicago bears fan, was in wisconsin, home to the rival

green bay packers and was supported on stage by two current players from that team. buzzfeed notes they both gave the president a good ribbing after the packers beat the bears last week. he said we're not bears fans first or packers fans first, but rather american teams. >> bill: obama sticks with his team. >> no matter where he is. >> a new viral video put out by police officers in austin reaches out to lgbt youth. the officers talk about their

personal lives and how youth who have questions or problems should never hesitate to reach out to law enforcement for help. >> bill: that's very good of them to do that as role models very good of them to do that radio. so, jake the congress was out for i think five weeks or so, and then they came back, and now they're back for seven weeks. what did they get done? >> nothing. >> bill: surprise, surprise. >> and the important thing to note is there are things lingering out. like if they left and everything was done that would be a different story. most notably the farm bill. that is a huge thing for both democrats and republicans across the country. and it's also food stamps new tradition programs it's across the board.

so this is a huge issue, and something that they are put into the lame duck. >> bill: pardon my ignorance. why is the farm bill so important? i mean is this a lot of money for farmers. >> a huge part of our country is food producers. the big thing about farm policy is crop insurance if there droughts, the government insured against that. and also paying people not to farm, to control the market. it's a huge swath of issues. >> bill: that's the other thing, i also with my ignorance of agriculture, i'm a californian not totally, i'm making a point, though. i certainly don't know the issue

inside and out. >> few people do. >> bill: right. but i also saw it as a safe issue. everybody is always for farmers, right? >> right. >> bill: and so it is not a political football, hasn't been right? >> when republicans took over the house, hey said they were going to reform a lot of these big federal programs that started with the highway bill. they weren't able to fix the what a lot of people consider horribly broken roads from coast-to-coast. the farm bill they tried to do the same thing. they said they wanted to reform programs, switch from direct pay to farmers to a more market-base position. and they wanted to cut food stamps as well.

so the people on the left said we are not going to cut all of these programs. so as john boehner last week, people very close to him said you have got to pass something and turn their back on him publicly. >> bill: so they did not get the farm bill done. they did nothing about sequestration which is the dark cloud which they brought about themselves by not being able to reach an agreement on the budget deficit. so you have these looming draconian defense cuts, and cuts to domestic programs as well, which kicks in -- >> end of the year -- >> bill: first of the year.

>> right. there's no runway. >> bill: so when are they going to deal with that. >> we're looking at the session of congress that begins the day after the election. so you have a lot of people coming back into washington who have lost and really don't represent their constituents anymore. they are going to have to contend with these things. and it's only defense and domestic cuts. it's tax rates on every single human being who makes money in this country. they will all snap back to where they were during the bill clinton administration. there are a huge mess of things the rate at which the government reimburses medicare positions. a whole host of small tax provisions. wind energy is up. and they are also saying they

are going to deal with the farm bill. so you will have a period of six or seven weeks where congress is litigating literally the entire nation's economy after the election. >> bill: so they will come back november 7th, then they are expected to stay there until their christmas break; is that right? >> i always learn to never make plans for the end of december because congress is always in until the last possible moment. >> bill: what makes it likely that they will be able to accomplish then what they have not accomplished in the last two years? >> there is two schools of thinking. one is these things are so incredibly important. and it's not a vague ideal like

the debt ceiling. they said we never defaulted on our debt -- >> bill: came close. >> came very close but we never failed as a country. people were saying it's not real, things of that nature. same with government funding. we saw a government shutdown in the mid-1990s, and the world didn't blow up. but these are tax rates on everybody. huge cuts to defense spending which doesn't only affect the military, but in a lot of towns across the country entire towns and communities are based on defense spending. >> bill: sure. >> so this is going to spur some action. whether it's to the end back or

something like that. the other thought is why not just let this happen and scare everybody and get everybody really nervous and show people how bad it is and then in congress will have to act. so there is no real thought that there will be some sort of massive agreement in the lame duck, but there is a thought that something will get done to at least kick it down the road to the middle of the year. so if president obama were in office and john boehner were still the speaker -- which is unlikely -- you now have a speaker who said he wants to work with the president, and the president wants this on the his

history. jake sherman is a congressional reporter at "politico." i -- jake, when we come back -- i want to take a quick break. when we come back i'm glad to have you join the conversation. you have heard me say so many times, we save a seat for you at the table by calling 866-55-press. any questions about what is on the docket in congress. what was done, what wasn't done. i attended a little round table discussion with democratic leader nancy pelosi friday afternoon in her office. and she had some things to say about democratic chances of winning the house i want to ask you about when we come back here on the "full court press."

will it just be president obama winning the house, or this the democrats be able to take over the house and senate. >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." ♪ it's go time. what time is it rob? oh, then it's go. go. go. go time. anybody? anybody? go time! jack you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire ♪ [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events more experiences.

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save on advil® with our special coupon in select newspapers this sunday. >>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. do you share the sense of outrage that they're doing this, this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is.

i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. we'll jump to the senate and all of the important races in our next segment. right now we're focusing on the house and what didn't get done.

jake sherman is our guest, he is a congressional reporter for "politico" on the hill. it's nice that we're this close. >> that's right. >> bill: we make it very convenient for you. ray is calling with a question. >> caller: i had been watching c-span over the last two days and they brought a bill to the floor. it was a veterans bill and i hate to jump to conclusions but it seemed like the republicans held that bill up, and i just don't understand if that is true; that that could do something like that. and america doesn't know about it. it seems like they are holding up that bill. i'm not even a veteran. >> bill: all right. ray, got your question.

i hear your little friend chime in there. that was a bill in the senate, i think he was referring to. a bill that would have created in essence a job corps. a job corps just for veterans coming home from iraq and afghanistan. republicans did filibuster it. i think two or three republicans broke ranks a voted with democrats. and this was a classic case of republican -- it was a great idea, and everybody wants to help the veterans but the republicans don't want to help barack obama get another victory for the election and mitch mcconnell basically said that, that they were all for this, but they are not going to do it now because it would look good for

president obama. >> yes and i didn't even see it. >> bill: yeah, it was politics over policy, and it is regretful. nancy pelosi was optimistic friday that democrats were going to be able to win the house. and she said if democrats win by ten. they get the house back. >> i think democrats have a chance to gain seats, and that's the kind of reality of it. but they don't have a chance to get the house. i think it is more like 35 to 40 seats they would need to win back the house. that's a tall task. but weird things happen in politics. i don't think this is going to be one of the things that happen. >> bill: she told us in 75

districts. which is still a tall order. jake nice to see you. thank for coming in. good round up. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

♪ >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show," now on current tv. >> bill: all right. 33 minutes after the hour. it is the "full court press." we're coming to you live from urination's capitol. we're brought to you today by the national education association, under president

dennis vanrockle. for more information go to their website at nea.org. we were talking in the last half hour, to jake sherman about the house, chances of democrats getting back the house and also the lack of action in the house. let's switch to the senate. nobody knows the senate better -- that's her job with the cook political report then jennifer duffy. a good friend and especially a good friend to come in this early on a monday morning. since charlotte, elizabeth warren spoke in charlotte and she and scott brown have had their first debate. how is it looks in massachusetts? >> it is interesting. we saw over the last couple of

weeks democrats really starting to fret for warren's campaign. and that showed her moving ahead a little bit in the polls. it is still a very close race. she was at 50%, and then there was one for scott brown at 50%. still a very close race, scott brown needs to hold on to about 20% of democrats and right now he at about 15 or 16%. so it's a toss up. single-digit race, can't see it changing. >> bill: i should have started with the overall question about democrats -- do you believe now democrats maintain control of the senate? >> i think right now it looks more likely than not. there is a path for republicans, but it is a really tough one. >> bill: so with that this lead line from usa today, today, akin

still confident he can win the missouri senate seat. >> well, i think mr. akin will be alone in that assessment. look, republicans have gotten a lot of heat for pulling their support from achen, but honestly, let's look at this realistically. he doesn't have very much money. claire mccaskill has more than enough. and she spent almost $2 million to pick him and her opponent. there was a reason for that. tomorrow is the deadline for him to get out, he is clearly not going to do so and all bets are once the deadline passes mccaskill is just going to go nuclear on him. and she doesn't even have to go to the beginning of the problem,

she is talk about his support for ending the student school lunch program, medicare social security, and he only has the resources to respond. so i don't really see how in any realistic way he can win this race. >> bill: and you think he'll stay in? >> oh, he will stay in. i put that in shortly after he uttered that fortunate phrase. >> bill: already. i'm just jumping around in no particular order. bill nelson in florida. how does that looked? >> nelson's race is pretty tied to the president. i would say if there is a state where medicare plays big it's florida.

>> bill: right. >> connie mac is the republican candidate he has some ground to make up here. it is probably going to be close, but you know, today i think mac would fall just short -- he too needs a break. i have that in the lean category. it hasn't been consistently in somethings. >> bill: let's jump up to connecticut. linda murphy seems to have improved as a candidate. as she improved enough? >> this is an unusual state to see republicans doing so well right now. and she has improved. she has run a very different campaign. she spent a lot of time defining herself and getting to new

voters, but what she did is that the day after the primary, she started to attack murphy and he didn't seem to think it was coming. and i love the subject she went after him on and that was how many committee hearings he has missed. i mean that was like a flash from the '80s isn't it? however, chris murphy is a member of an institution with an approval rate of 12. he didn't have a good answer for the question, then she went after him for the fact he was taken to court for missing rent and mortgage payments. he has an even weaker answer to that. so he is not well-known statewide yet and thank to the mcmahon campaign, they know she doesn't show up for work or pay

his mortgage, and democrats have woken up. they are in this race and it is going to be very expensive for them. they have the new york media market, tough. she is really going to have to outperform romney if she is going to win that state. >> bill: so a toss-up still? >> i put it in though toss up. when she got back into the race i shook my head because i think she is a neat lady and it is really unfortunate she is up in a presidential race. >> bill: maine. interests race. >> it is interesting. angus king is not saying which

party he will caucus with. the republican is the secretary of state, this democrat state senator. this race has gotten more interesting in the last couple of weeks. king has maintained a pretty healthy lead but the chamber of commerce knocked about 10 points off of kaine. standing in the polls just by talking about his record as governor especially when it came to spending and taxes. now republicans need to put something back on the table. the nrsc has gone up there to see if they can take this a race. and they need cynthia dill to get somewhere between 17 and 21

22%. the belief is most of kaine's voters are democrats anyway. but it gets -- the plot thickens. national democrats have pretty much disavowed cynthia. they want to see king win this race. >> bill: on the theory that he will caucus with them. >> yes. so if this race gets close, they are in a very awkward position. what do they do? do they get behind king? there would be many democrats disappointed to see that happen especially when the independent will not be a reliable vote. >> bill: a friend of mine just had a fund raiser for angus king

here. and that explains. california, done. >> that's done. >> bill: nevada? shelley berkeley. >> shelley berkeley is the democrat, dean heller was republican, and was appointed to the senate. this is his first time running as the incumbent senator. this is a really close race. the polls kind of volleyed back and forth by a couple of points. berkeley obviously has democrats behind her which translates to harry reid which was a very impressive campaign. he didn't win that race by a lot against a candidate who was lacking in many regards.

>> bill: putting it very general. >> it's monday you know. but here -- so that's berkeley's advantage, having harry reid and his organization. here is heller's advantage, berkeley is not well-known outside of las vegas. now that is the biggest share of the vote in the state, but you can't win on las vegas alone, you have to go north and go to washington county which is reno. she is not known a lot up there. and she has a road to concur there. >> bill: toss up? >> absolutely. >> bill: all right. it's the "full court press" monday morning. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

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(vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! ♪

>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv. this is the bill press. >> bill: you got it 12 minutes now before the top of the hour chris democratic strategy is going to be here as a friend of bill for the next hour. we're taking a look at the very very important senate races in this country. most of the attention has been on the white house, but every member is up for control of the house and senate in question. and how many seats are up here? >> we have 33 seats, 23 democrats, 10 republicans.

>> bill: and let's run through some states that sometimes don't get as much attention. although virginia has been getting a lot of attention. tim kaine versus george allen. >> i have talked to some races that are tied to the presidential, but i think no race is more tied than the virginia senate race. for 18 months this thing has been going full bore. as you have seen president obama get his bump post convention you also saw kaine get a bump. i was a little surprised to see that. they debated last week tim kaine made a small mistake. i don't know that it is fatal, but he said he would consider a tax increase for all americans.

he thought that all americans should pay some sort of minimum tax. his response was no he was simply talking about his willingness to consider all proposals on the table. but it seemed to plays a draw, which most do quite frankly. but if obama maintains this edge, it is going to reclose. >> bill: toss up? >> yes. >> bill: i ran in to joe donnelly the other day. democratic senate in indiana. >> i'm a little surprised to see him here, he has a campaign to run. >> bill: yes. >> this is the newest entry to

our toss-up column. this is the seat that keith louinger holds. the after the primary, murdoch so famously said on television that his definition of bipartisanship was having democrats agree with him, and that was also his definition of compromise. the [ inaudible ] campaign has so effective i will -- >> bill: very aggressive campaign. >> very aggressive campaign. good ads, really onpoint, on message. and he has managed to tie in a state where they are not even contesting it that obama will

win. so he has got to overcome those things, but he has earned this race. >> bill: good toss up. >> absolutely. >> bill: scott walker in wisconsin beat back his recall so tommy baldwin up for the senate seat. >> yeah. >> bill: get tommy thompson. how is that looking? >> this is another really good race. i think it is interesting that wisconsin is suddenly in play where it hadn't been for a while. and please pity the voters of wisconsin, they have been subjected to over $100 million in political advertising. tommy thompson won a pretty

contested, crowding and very expensive primary, and he suffered the fate that many nominees suffer after circumstances like that. he came out of the primary and didn't have much money. he wasn't on tv. he took his foot off of the gas, whereas tammy baldwin who had no primary jumped right into the general. where he was ahead in the general election, now he is trailing a little bit. i think once he goes on the air. once the outside groups fully engage here, i think you'll see a really close race, and it's interesting wisconsin is in play because we always sort of dismiss the idea of a running

mate putting a state in play. >> bill: so you as it a tossup? >> i do. >> bill: all right. you are the best. >> thank you. >> bill: thank you for coming in. cookpolitical.com. for all of the latest. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

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is is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, and on this monday september 24th, by parting shot for today, i get the feeling sometime that mitt romney thinks we're all a bunch of idiots. look at what happened on friday. he released his tax returns on friday at 4:00. and it raises more questions. he paid 14.1% on taxes in 2011 and yet he rigged his return by not declaring all of his charitable deductions so we is just going to file an amended return getting all of his deductions. and then he'll only pay 10.

so the only way to answer this question, is to release all of his tax returns. have a good one folks. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."